Betty White

Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021) was an American actress, comedian, presenter, singer, author, and television personality. She acted as Sue Ann Nivens in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and as Rose Nylund in the television sitcom The Golden Girls.^[2] She also starred as Elka Ostrovsky, in the TV Land comedy Hot in Cleveland.^[3]

Betty White
White at the 1988 Emmy Awards
Born	Betty Marion White (1922-01-17)January 17, 1922 Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
Died	December 31, 2021(2021-12-31) (aged 99) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Problems caused by a stroke
Other names	Gerrie, Betty White Ludden[1]
Education	Horace Mann School
Alma mater	Beverly Hills High School
Occupation(s)	Actress, comedian, writer
Years active	1930–2021
Television	Life with Elizabeth Date with the Angels The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Betty White Show The Golden Girls The Golden Palace Boston Legal Hot in Cleveland Betty White's Off Their Rockers (host)
Spouse(s)	Dick Barker (1945) Lane Allen (1947–1949) Allen Ludden (1963–1981; his death)
Children	3 stepchildren

White won seven Emmy Awards during her career. In 1983, she became the first woman to win a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host. White also holds the record for longest span between Emmy nominations for performances—her first was in 1951 and her most recent was in 2012, a span of 61 years—and became the oldest nominee as of 2013, aged 91. The actress is also the oldest winner of a competitive Grammy Award, which she won in 2012. She was host for the NBC entry Just Men!.^[4]

In 2011 White began hosting a new program, Betty White's Off Their Rockers. In the program senior citizens play practical jokes on the younger generation.^[5] A special Betty White's 90th Birthday Party was on NBC a day before the star's birthday on January 16, 2012. The show had appearances of many stars with whom White has worked over the years.^[6]

Early life

White was born in Oak Park, Illinois. She was of Greek, English, Welsh and Danish ancestry.^[7][8][9] She was an only child of Horace White, a lighting company executive, and her mother was a homemaker.^[10] White's family moved to Los Angeles, California during the Great Depression.^[11][12] She attended Horace Mann School Beverly Hills and Beverly Hills High School. She hosted the February 10, 2014 episode of Raw.

Personal life

White and Ludden in 1968.

White with President Obama in the Oval Office in June 2012.

In 1945, White married Dick Barker, a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot. The marriage was short-lived. In 1947, she married Lane Allen, a Hollywood agent. This marriage ended in divorce in 1949.

On June 14, 1963, White married television host and personality Allen Ludden (1917-1981). They met on his game show Password when she was a celebrity guest panelist in 1961.^[13]

Allen Ludden died from stomach cancer^[14][15] on June 9, 1981, in Los Angeles.^[16] They had no children together, though she is stepmother to his three children from his first marriage. White did not remarry after Ludden's death.

White was a practicing member of the Unity Church.^[17] She was also a registered Democrat.^[18] She endorsed President Barack Obama in 2012 saying she "likes how he represents us".^[19]

Death

White died at her home in Los Angeles, California on December 31, 2021, at the age of 99.^[20] She died 17 days before her 100th birthday.^[21] The cause of death was problems caused by a stroke she had six days before her death.^[22]

Awards

White at the 1992 Emmy Awards

White was added to the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6747 Hollywood Boulevard alongside the star of her late husband Allen Ludden.

In 2010, the Screen Actors Guild honoured White with the Life Achievement Award. In 2010 she was chosen as the Associated Press's Entertainer of the Year.

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1951	Emmy Award	Best Actress	Life with Elizabeth	Nominated
1952	Emmy Awards	Best Actress	Life with Elizabeth	Won
1975	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Won
1976	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Won
1977	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Nominated
1983	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Game Show Host	Just Men!	Won
1984	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Game Show Host	Just Men!	Nominated
1986	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Won
1986	Golden Apple Award	Female Star of the Year		Won
1986	Golden Globes	Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1987	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1987	Golden Globes	Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1987	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication	The Golden Girls	Won
1987	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Won
1988	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1988	Golden Globes	Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1988	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Won
1989	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1989	Golden Globes	Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1990	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1990	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1990	American Comedy Awards	Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy		Won
1991	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1992	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1995	Walk of Fame	Star on the Walk of Fame		Won
1996	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	The John Larroquette Show	Won
1997	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Suddenly Susan	Nominated
2000	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Female Guest Appearance in a TV Series	Ally McBeal	Won
2003	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	The Practice	Nominated
2003	TV Land Awards	Quintessential Non-Traditional Family		Won
2004	TV Land Awards	Groundbreaking Show		Won
2008	TV Land Awards	Pop Culture Award		Won
2009	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	My Name Is Earl	Nominated
2009	Television Critics Association	Career Achievement Award		Won
2009	Disney Legends	Disney Legends		Won
2010	Screen Actors Guild	Life Achievement Award		Won
2010	MTV Movie Awards	Best WTF Moment	The Proposal	Nominated
2010	MTV Movie Awards	Best Comedic Performance	The Proposal	Nominated
2010	Teen Choice Award	Best Dance (with Sandra Bullock)	The Proposal	Won
2010	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Saturday Night Live	Won
2010	New Now Next Awards	Cause You're Hot		Nominated
2011	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Guest Star	Community	Nominated
2011	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Web Celeb		Nominated
2011	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Hot in Cleveland	Nominated
2011	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series	Hot in Cleveland	Won
2011	Gracie Allen Awards	Best Actress in a Comedy Series	Hot in Cleveland	Won
2011	The Comedy Awards	Best Actress in a TV Comedy	Hot in Cleveland	Nominated
2011	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Hot In Cleveland	Nominated
2011	UCLA Jack Benny Award	Comedian		Won
2011	Grammy Awards	Best Spoken Word Recording	If You Ask Me (And You Won't)	Won
2012	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by Female Actor in a Comedy Series	Hot in Cleveland	Won
2012	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie	The Lost Valentine	Nominated
2012	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program	Betty White's Off Their Rockers	Nominated

References

1. Archive of American Television interview for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, 0:0:47-50
2. "Golden Girl Rue McClanahan dies at 76". BBC News. June 3, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
3. "The Hot In Cleveland Official Site Starring Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, and Wendie Malick". Retrieved August 11, 2011.
4. "It's Evening in America". Vanity Fair. May 2012. Page 157.
5. Roxborough, Scott (March 31, 2011). "Betty White to Host 'Off Their Rockers' for NBC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
6. "Betty White turns 90 with star-studded celebrity bash – 01/16/2012 | Entertainment News from". OnTheRedCarpet.com. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
7. Smolenyak Smolenyak, Megan (June 16, 2010). "Betty White: White-Hot in Cleveland or Not". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
8. Scott, Walter (December 21, 1986). "Personality Parade". Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved January 11, 2014.^{[permanent dead link]}
9. Nolasco, Stephanie (May 5, 2010). "Betty White Draws Line With Nudity & Marijuana But Hopes For Beer Pong Rematch On 'SNL'". StarPulse. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
10. O'Dell, C. (1997). Women pioneers in television : biographies of fifteen industry leaders / by Cary O'Dell ; with a foreword by Sally Jessy Raphael. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Company, c1997.
11. Jacobs, Matthew (January 17, 2013). "Betty White's 91st Birthday: 10 Facts About America's Golden Girl". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
12. Stated on Saturday Night Live, May 8, 2010
13. White, Betty (1995). Here We Go Again: My Life In Television 1949–1995. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80042-X.
14. Betty White, interviewed on Inside the Actors Studio.
15. "Betty White: Avoiding The Plague of Women Who Lunch". Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
16. "Allen Ludden, TV Host, Is Dead; On 'College Bowl' and 'Password'". The New York Times. June 10, 1981. p. B6.
17. White, Betty (2011). If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) (First ed.). Putnam Adult. pp. 110–112. ISBN 978-0-399-15753-0.
18. White, Betty (2011). If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) (First ed.). Putnam Adult. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-399-15753-0.
19. Brett Zongker (May 12, 2012). "Betty White reveals her presidential preference – Yahoo! News". News.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
20. "Betty White Dead at 99". TMZ.com. TMZ. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
21. Silverman, Stephen M. (December 31, 2021). "Betty White Dies: The Golden Girls and Mary Tyler Moore Show Star Was 99". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
22. Saad, Nardine (January 10, 2022). "Betty White's cause of death: Coroner blames stroke she suffered 6 days before dying". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.

Other websites

• Betty White on IMDb